Sermon: What's the Catch

From Wellington Cathedral of St Paul

What's the Catch?

7 February 2010

The Revd Jenny Wilkens

• Isaiah 6:1-8
• Psalm 138
• 1 Corinthians 15:1-11
• Luke 5:1-11

http://cathedral.wellington.net.nz/index.php/Sermons

Fresh fish, fresh off the boat! We could be forgiven for thinking we were dealing with the remains of Jesus' miraculous catch of fish, yesterday in the Farmers' Market here in our carpark. For those of you who weren't able to join the crowds yesterday, do come along, and not just for getting your fruit, veges, walnuts, cheese, fish, olive oil, gelato, coffee, face painted, or your breakfast! It was wonderful to chat with our neighbours from round about this community, and have so many of them pop into the Cathedral for some shade and peace and quiet. I wonder for how many it was the first time they'd been inside our doors?

Fresh fish, fresh off the boat! I am taken back too to the boat-ride we enjoyed on the Sea of Galilee, to seeing a few fishermen and their stolid wooden boats, tasting what is now called St Peter's fish - I do recall it was full of bones! We saw in the topography of the Sea of Galilee too just how many little inlets there are, that make natural amphitheatres like the one Jesus used to speak from Simon's boat to the crowds pressing in on the shore

From what we know of Simon Peter's ebullient, 'out there' sort of character, we might be surprised that Jesus gets away so easily with commandeering Simon's boat, and not only that, Jesus then tries to teach his grandmother to suck eggs, as it were, in telling the fishermen to cast their nets yet again.

You can imagine the muttering under the breath: 'what does he know about the price of fish?' Doesn't he realise that the best time to catch fish is at night, not in the middle of the day…? They grumble a bit, 'yet if you say so, I will let down the nets.' (Lk 5:5)

Yet if you say so…there must have been something extraordinarily attractive, compelling even, to convince these seasoned fishermen to act on Jesus' word. I wonder how long they were listening to him speak while he was sitting in their boat? A captive audience you might say!

And we know the result…this marvellous catch of fish, this super-abundance of blessing from the sea. So much so that panic sets in: the nets are beginning to break, call in reinforcements, the boats are beginning to sink…Just what have we got ourselves into, this is getting out of control, our control…

I wonder if you are surprised, shocked even by Peter's response. We come to know he's an impulsive character, but falling at Jesus' knees, 'Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man'. Isn't that a bit over the top? Or is it just that we are so used to the WOW factor, so used to being entertained, that our response might well have been, well that was great, but did you see the Sevens costumes this year?

Simon Peter probably didn't understand much of what was going on, but his sense that something was going on here that was more than could be manufactured, that somehow God's power and presence were palpable, that is what kicks him in the guts, fells him to his knees.

Just as it was for Isaiah, perhaps going through the motions of temple worship, when suddenly the veil is removed, and God's glory is revealed in all its colour, motion, sound, overwhelmingness. He too is cut to the quick, 'I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips, yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts' (Isaiah 6:5)

For Isaiah as for Simon Peter, as later for Paul, the encounter with God, the encounter with God in Christ was a staggering reminder of the inadequacy, the fallingshortness of our humanity, the conviction of all that we might have been and have lost.

And yet…they are not left to wallow in that state. First comes for Simon Peter the words of reassurance, 'Do not be afraid', the phrase that is said to be in the Bible 366 times, one for every day of the year, including Leap Year!

And then the commission: 'from now on, you will be catching people'. You and I are going to be working together, Simon, you will have a share in my mission, and it's catching people. Simon Peter and his mates were used to catching and cleaning fish, and the inevitable result of that was that live fish became dead fish. But the word Jesus uses, zogrein actually means to catch and keep alive, to take alive, or even to restore to life something that's under a death threat. We might say to 'catch and release' into a new quality of life, kingdom life, eternal life. The picture I've put on our newssheet today conveys some of the energy, the immediacy and resolve of Simon Peter's and the other fishermen's response to Jesus' call. He is running out of the water, a huge smile on his face. Luke's account is full of verbs: they brought their boats to shore, they left everything and followed him. (5:11)

There's one thing I think is wrong with that picture though, do you notice there is a fish sticking out of the man's bag on his back? Maybe that's just to show he was a fisherman, but I wonder if he was thinking it might be good to have a snack in his pack just in case it all turned to custard. To mix the metaphor, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too!

I think it expresses the reality of our steps in discipleship, often 2 steps forward with great enthusiasm, and then 3 steps back when we begin to waver and question what we're doing, going out in faith following this attractive, compelling but deeply disturbing man Jesus. Where will he lead us? There are hard choices to make- these fishermen had secure and lucrative jobs and businesses on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, they had families to feed. 'They left everything and followed him'. Did they pop in to visit their families now and then as they passed, they are not big distances they covered, and yet, how did the families feel? How did Simon Peter's wife feel, his mother-in-law? (Well maybe that one was a bit easier…!)

What will God call you to this year? This Lent as we begin soon our journey with Christ to the cross? God's call to us always involves change, challenge, the adventure and pain of growth, formation, transformation from one degree of glory to another. How does that feel to you - exciting or scary - or both?

Where will God call you this year? Where will you hear God's voice calling to you? Here in this awesome sacred space, midst the glory of beauty and music and silence? Or out there in the carpark, at the market chatting with our neighbours, in your workplace, the marketplaces of this city? The world is full of God's glory, God's presence and grace, look for it, listen for it.

As we go into this year listening for God's call to us, know with Paul that it is 'by the grace of God that I am what I am' (1 Cor 15:10) - rest in that grace. And may we pray with the Psalmist, "You will fulfil your purpose for me, your love o Lord is everlasting: do not leave unfinished the work of your hands." (Psalm 138:8) Amen.